Reasons To Get Excited In 2016

25 Things That Will Blow Your Mind In 2016

The new year is in, and with it the back-to-work blues, a long-lingering hangover and creeping symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Ugh. But fear not – there are more than a few reasons to get properly excited about 2016. Below we've rounded up the unmissable entertainment and jaw-dropping breakthroughs that are about to make life sweet again.

Insects on menus

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How to solve a problem like population? Mealworms.

With the citizenship of Earth on track to hit nine billion by 2050, one of the many problems facing mankind – alongside where everyone will live and whether Netflix’s servers can cope with all of humanity watching House of Cards at the same time – is what we’re having for tea.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reckons edible insects are the key to survival and, given that a certain amount of creepy crawlies are already present in things like curry powder, canned fruit juice and beer (yes, really), turns out cricket biscuits might not be half bad after all. With Grub Kitchen, Britain’s first insect café, opening late last year, and new protein bars (Crobar, Chapul and Exo) full of cricket protein, expect a swarm of bug-based cuisine to follow.

All-you-can-eat sunshine

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Yes, yes, cures for terminal illnesses and smartphone batteries that last longer than six-minutes are probably a higher priority. But the chance to shield yourself from UV rays without your partner/friend/colleague awkwardly smearing cream across your shoulders is the stuff of fantasy.

British scientists predicted a coral-based pill could become a reality in five years… approximately five years ago. Fingers crossed, last summer’s bottle of Hawaiian Tropic could’ve been the final one you’ll ever need.

It's Oscar time

Once more making going to your local movie theater a fully-fledged sport, the next month sees a whole host of movies – all of which are loudly batting their lashes at the Academy panel – hit cinemas.

There’s David O. Russell wheeling out his adopted family (Cooper, De Niro, Lawrence) in Joy, the transformative Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, Tarantino’s customary blood, guts and gunfire in The Hateful Eight; not to mention Spotlight’s gritty true tale, the star-studded The Big Short and – lest we forget – Leo DiCaprio’s tumultuous quest to win an Oscar, this time via frostbite and grizzly attacks in The Revenant.

A video game as big as the universe

Tired of shelling out for a game and binge-playing it for a week straight, only to place it upon FIFA 13 and year-old Call of Duty on your never-to-be-played-again pile? Well no longer.

On No Man’s Sky, a frighteningly advanced PS4 title, it would take five billion actual years to visit each of the game’s planets. And even then your visit to each land would last just a single second.

Playing as an astronaut, you’ll start out your very own uninhabited planet before venturing out into the cosmos that features 18 quintillion planets. Suffice to say, with a playground as vast as our own universe, bumping into your pals also playing the game – or anyone, for that matter – is unlikely.

Hands-free driving

Self-driving cars, arguably the worst kept secret since Christoph Waltz playing uber-baddie Ernst Blofeld, are nothing new. However, with on-road testing already taking place and legislation starting to be drawn up – not to mention Google teaming up with Ford to build their brand of automated chauffeurs – 2016 might represent the first shot fired into the wheezing heart that is your driving licence.

Travel goes Tron

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Elon Musk, everybody’s favourite billionaire, has been busy. But, rather than shooting people into the stratosphere a la Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (though Musk does harbour dreams of colonising Mars), the US entrepreneur is instead taking on a real world problem: terrestrial travel.

Announced in 2013, Musk’s super-fast Hyperloop will see customers zoom at 745mph between locations, like LA to San Francisco in 30-minutes; half the time of a plane ride.

And with the Hyperloop’s first test track currently under construction in Las Vegas, it seems that – just like the futuristic tube train itself – Musk is in something of a hurry.

The Thin White Duke returns

At the ripe old age of 69, David Bowie is still refusing to play by the rules.

After delightfully catching the music world with its pants down in 2013 – with the surprise release of his critically adored throwback record, The Next Day – Ziggy is at it again with his 25th studio album, Blackstar, released on 9 January (his birthday).

Though he has long since retired from performing live, Bowie freed himself from his long-serving band in favour of a New York jazz troupe for Blackstar, hinting that although he’s pushing 70, the Starman’s not out of ideas.

The ultimate motor for Le Mans

Half a century since its GT40 famously won at Le Mans, manufacturing giant Ford is commemorating the anniversary with a brand new version. A release for the road car is still TBC, however the GT is primed to debut in 2016 at, you guessed it, Le Mans.

Watch the Throne

If you’re not yet up to date with the latest in Game of Thrones and have somehow escaped the procession of spoilers online, look away now. Jon Snow is dead! Or is he? The swathe of promotional posters and scurrilous rumours would certainly suggest otherwise, but with on-screen storylines having overtaken George R.R. Martin’s prose, only upon April’s new season shall we know for sure.

...and while we’re at it, George

He may have missed his deadline to have it published before season six airs on Sky (citing excuses that include writer’s block, distraction and free trips abroad), Game of Thrones wordsmith George R.R. Martin claims we’ll still see The Winds of Winter this year. That is, of course, unless someone invites him on vacation again.

Yes, it really has been four years since the London Olympics

Well don’t we all feel old? With four calendar years passing in the blink of an eye, August will see the planet’s premier athletes converge in Rio for what’s already set to be an explosive Olympic Games; and that’s before you even consider the political drama (and half built stadiums) that threatened 2014’s World Cup.

There’s Usain Bolt’s lacing up his Pumas for the final time on the track, the debut of Rugby Sevens, and likely return of such Team GB heroes as Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford, Bradley Wiggins and more, with a whole new batch of Britons hoping to create history of their own.

Rekindle your love for the X

Mulder. Scully. That theme tune. It’s back. Catch the return of The X-Files on Fox and rekindle your long lost relationship with network TV. After a 13-year hiatus from screens, Mulder and Scully will do their sci-fi sleuthing on terrestrial TV this January.

Grim news for Geldof

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The good news: it’s a Leap Year. This means an extra day on the calendar, a chance for those born on 29 February to actually celebrate their birthday and, if they so choose, women to get down on bended knee to ask a very particular question.

The bad: It’s a Monday. For most, a work day. And Boomtown Rats’ singer Bob Geldof’s least favourite of the whole goddamn week, at that.

Hooked around a record exec hustling to carve a career in New York’s happening ’70s music scene, the show hits Sky Atlantic in February, and promises to be just as subtle with its sordid scenes of sex and substance abuse as the meek and mild Wolf of Wall Street.

The Internet, IRL

After the crossover success of gym-based Instagrammers Joe ‘The Body Coach’ Wicks and Jen ‘Belfie’ Selter – and plenty of savvy YouTubers besides – expect a whole heap of social media stars to step out from your smartphone screen to make a splash (and cash) in the mainstream.

Zoella penning a bestseller or The Fat Jew making wine won’t smack as peculiar come 2017, as the lines between on and offline continue to blur, and your most-loved internet personas pop up in print and on TV, as well as the good old internet.

Who ya gonna call?

The term ‘reboot’ is swiftly becoming the easy option for inspiration-starved Hollywood execs, along with a sure-fire way to desecrate the legacy of a classic (see: virtually every remake of the past decade). And yet the all-new, all-female Ghostbusters fills us with untold, childlike joy.

It’s not just to stellar cast of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, nor Bridesmaids and Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig on directing duties, but the combination of these factors plus the rumoured cameos of Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Dan Akyroyd.

Radiohead redux

Ignore the fact there’s someone genuinely responsible for rejecting their monumental Spectre theme in favour of the warbling tones of Sam Smith, and instead rejoice that 2016 should mark Radiohead’s hotly-anticipated return. With five years since The King of Limbs (and this their longest hiatus between albums), expect their ninth record to finally come out and, if the whispers are true, a world tour.

Transatlantic flights for $149?

This is not a drill. American Airlines is introducing a cheaper version of an economy-class ticket in 2016, which allows you to bypass paying for in-flight perks you don't use. Delta already has a similar "basic economy" fare, and we wouldn't be surprised to see more like it crop up in the next year.

Taking the biscuit is suitably-named Icelandic airline WOW, who have announced flights between Europe and Canada for around $149.

Arise, President Trump

We’re kidding (at least we sincerely hope we are). But whether or not Donald Trump’s presidency campaign is revealed to be an overlong, elaborate prank on the universe, 2016 will see a new Leader of the Free World voted for in America.

The smart money seems to be on Hilary Clinton becoming the first female president, whereas the sensible money is most definitely on anyone-but-that-bloke-with-the-ridiculous-hairdo.

Albums. Albums everywhere

Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Beyonce and Rihanna all have (seriously) overdue albums in the works. So if Kanye wants to come good on his “greatest living rock star on the planet” boast, Beyonce reclaim her ‘Queen Bey’ crown and Ocean/Rihanna continue to shove their respective ends of hip hop into new, uncharted territories, it’s high time someone scribbled some artwork and popped out a press release.

If not, throwback stars Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani all have records announced and ready to go in 2016. So if Kanye and co don’t get themselves in order these ageing princesses of pop could yet drag the music industry into a 1990s pop vortex and have the past 20 years erased from memory.

Star Wars goes Rogue

After a return to form so magnificent it smashed box office records, spawned a whole galaxy of products and almost allows us to believe Jar Jar Binks never existed, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was quite the home run for Disney and the new Crown Prince of Nerd Culture, J.J. Abrams.

Next, before Episode VIII resumes the main narrative in 2017, there’s a shiny, new spin-off directed by Godzilla and Monsters director, Gareth Edwards in the works. Starring Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna and Mads Mikkelsen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will transport us to pre-A New Hope times, spinning the yarn of how the Death Star’s plans got hijacked by a gang of rebels. Expect hype. And Darth Vader.

Nathan Drake checks out

On of the most played and celebrated gaming franchises of recent years is coming to an end this year. In Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Nathan Drake will take you on your final adventure together. The game's been delayed until April, apparently to ensure it meets its studio's high expectations. When it does land, expect action, adventure and possibly a tear or two.

Cuba

Hotly tipped to be the destination of 2016, the Caribbean island is welcoming record numbers due to softening US travel restrictions. The influx will probably end up changing this intoxicating country so go and see it before it does. See the rest of our 2016 holiday picks here.